Hope is for people to stick with therapy longer and give accessible care, DiveThru founder says
A Canadian mental health care company with a St. Albert studio has launched a new model designed to make therapy more financially accessible.
DiveThru has launched an expanded reduced rate program to lower the barriers to access therapy across the country.
Canadians can access virtual therapy sessions for $100 per 50-minute session, with some in-person spots available at $150 per minute session. DiveThru founder and CEO Sophie Gray said they wanted to create a program where there weren’t any real limits to how many times people could come to sessions and timely access.
“We’re really committed to ensuring that someone can get in within a week,” Gray said.
Gray said a key differentiator from DiveThru’s program versus others in the virtual therapy landscape is that they offer Master’s-level, regulated mental health professionals and allow for direct billing.
The financial barrier is often one of the largest when it comes to people not seeking help, and oftentimes there are more barriers to accessing the free resources that are available for people, such as longer wait times.
“When people think about mental health care in general, there is always that cost attached to it and that cost consideration. Some folks might be able to do a couple sessions at a standard rate but not ongoing. That’s the barrier that we see, as great as it would be for therapy to be done in one or two sessions, that’s not realistic for a lot of folks,” Gray said, with the hope that the new program will allow people to stick with therapy for much longer.
The program will have no income cut off to determine eligibility, although they will ask applicants’ income and financial situation. Gray said this is because DiveThru believes that if someone expresses financial need, they’re truthful about it more often than not.
As World Suicide Prevention Day is on Thursday, Sept. 10, Gray said it’s important that those who need ongoing care seek it out, as it was a key part of her own mental health journey.
“Mental health has been a big part of my journey, and my journey has involved self-harm, attempted suicide and a severe OCD diagnosis,” she said. “More than anything I want to create another resource that helps even one person access care like that, that means everything to me.”
You can learn more about DiveThru’s reduced rate program at www.divethru.com or by calling 866-658-0566. If you’re experiencing an emergency and need immediate help, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. Canada’s Suicide Crisis Helpline is 988.